SUBSCRIBE:

Irshad Manji's new book banned, among others

Share

Irshad Manji, right, with a fan at a 19 May launch of "Allah, Liberty and Love" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She had plans to launch it days before, but two universities and a bookstore pulled out after pressure from religious groups and the government

irshadmanji.com

Human Rights Watch and the Malaysia-based Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) have criticised the government's decision to ban a book on liberal Islam by Canadian Muslim activist Irshad Manji.

On 29 May, Home Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein banned Manji's "Allah, Liberty and Love", saying it was "prejudicial to morality and public order." The same day, some 20 officers raided the offices of the Malay language publisher, ZI Publications, seized the book and arrested ZI's owner Ezra Zaid, reports Human Rights Watch.

"Malaysian authorities say they are protecting morality by banning Manji's book, but this is just old-fashioned state repression," said Human Rights Watch.

CIJ called it "a pretext for the wanton exercise of power under the guise of religious order."

According to the members, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Abu Seman Yusop said the book was banned because it could "deviate Muslims from their faith" and "insulted Islam," and that there had been "numerous complaints" against it.

He said he had acted based on a report by the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), which found the book had elements that "could confuse the public."

Under the Printing Presses and Publication Law, the Home Affairs Minister has "absolute discretion" to ban books, from possession to reproduction and distribution, says Human Rights Watch.

Manji had managed to launch "Allah, Liberty and Love" at a hastily arranged event in Kuala Lumpur last month after two other venues pulled out of hosting the event, according to local publisher ZI Publications.

CIJ, which signed an appeal with more than a dozen other concerned groups, noted that book banning is not new. "The trend started much earlier with the banning of works by Karen Armstrong, Salman Rushdie, Khalil Gibran, Irvine Welsh and Iris Chang, among others," the groups said in a statement.

They note that the ban has even been used against local authors, such as Faisal Tehrani and Kassim Ahmad and the cartoonist Zunar.

"Book banning is a draconian measure that is not only ineffective but contrary to the spirit of dialogue and engagement that Malaysia desperately needs," said the groups, who are calling for the authorities to stop banning books altogether.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Related stories on ifex.org

While there has been uproar against Irshad Manji's Allah, Kebebasan dan Cinta recently, the trend started much earlier with the banning of works by Karen Armstrong, Salman Rushdie, Khalil Gibran, Irvine Welsh and Iris Chang, among others.

Malaysia's human rights situation continued to deteriorate in 2016, with human rights defenders, activists, political opposition figures, and journalists facing harassment and politically motivated prosecution. Those criticising the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak or commenting on the government's handling of the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal have been particular targets.

The year 2014 saw Malaysians standing up to exercise the rights guaranteed under the Federal Constitution, including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. This continues a growing trend of facing up to state oppression. Unfortunately, this has been met with increasing repression. Malaysia has seen a concerted crackdown on the freedom of expression in the year 2014, which has escalated even further in 2015.

In scrutinising the GE13 coverage provided by the most popular and influential Malaysian media, the Watching the Watchdog media monitoring project found that different 'Language Media' (English, Bahasa Malaysia, and Mandarin) provide differential information about GE13 participants, although in all cases, they reproduce the pro-BN bias found by the Watching the Watchdog project overall

In scrutinising the GE13 coverage provided by the most popular and influential Malaysian media, the Watching the Watchdog media monitoring project found that the coverage of politicians and other individuals present within election reporting (both when mentioned and when used as sources) is heavily gender-biased towards coverage of men.

In scrutinising the GE13 coverage provided by the most popular and influential Malaysian media, the Watching the Watchdog media monitoring project found that citizens are being deprived of fair and objective information about the individual politicians who are taking part in the elections.

In scrutinising the GE13 coverage provided by the most popular and influential Malaysian media, the Watching the Watchdog media monitoring project found that citizens of Malaysia are being deprived of fair and objective information about political parties and coalitions which are taking part in the elections.

IFEX publishes original and member-produced free expression news and reports. Some member content has been edited by IFEX. We invite you to contact [email protected] to request permission to reproduce or republish in whole or in part content from this site.